Scots face more pain as skipper Brown bids to pile on the agony

Kelly Brown has no option but to try and heap more misery on Scottish rugby with Saracens this weekend.

The Scotland captain could do with his international team-mates returning to winning ways, having seen confidence north of the border hit following three successive defeats for the national team and five Heineken Cup losses on the trot for Edinburgh.

The Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham is just 15 days away but Brown’s ‘day job’ means putting his Celtic roots to one side at Vicarage Road.

Saracens’ remarkable comeback victory at Racing Metro last weekend has put them in pole position as Munster’s failure to collect a bonus point in their win away to Edinburgh left them three points behind in Pool One.

Two bonus points or a draw would be enough for Saracens to qualify for the quarter-finals while Munster need an unlikely Edinburgh victory.

However, flanker Brown is taking nothing for granted and said: “I have no doubts that Edinburgh — even with their record — will be up for this game. We won at Murrayfield and they will see this as a chance of payback.

“It is going to be very tough. I enjoyed going to Edinburgh and getting a win against some of my Scotland mates and we will be back to being mates after the final whistle on Sunday. Having won so well in Nantes, it’s about maintaining the standards we set in the final 50 minutes of that game.”

Owen Farrell kicked all 11 attempts at goal for 32 points against Racing and is on a fantastic run of form that has seen him on target with his last 29 kicks. With Charlie Hodgson also in their armoury, Saracens are able to turn pressure into points.

“We are very fortunate to have two exceptional kickers,” added Brown. “If we don’t get tries then we are able to punish mistakes with the boot.”

Meanwhile, Nick Easter will sit out Harlequins’ clash in Biarritz tonight but believes his side can take inspiration from arch-rivals Saracens.

The No8’s consistent form has made him the outstanding performer in the Heineken Cup as measured by the Amlin Opta Index.

His ball carrying and work at the breakdown has been key to the English champions dominating their pool and maintaining their leadership of the Premiership.

Tom Guest will wear the No8 jersey, which means filling the void left by Easter and negating Raphael Lakafia.

Easter urged his team-mates to take heart from Sarries’ recovery from being 13 points down to win at Racing.

He said: “We are great rivals but Saracens’ win was inspirational and showed the guys what can be achieved against a top side in France.”

The Amlin Opta Index numbers that point to a win for Quins . . .

94 per cent of scrums have been won by Harlequins on their own feed, making them the fifth-best team in Europe this season.

64 carries and 12 offloads make Quins No8 Nick Easter his club’s most effective attacking player on the Index, with an average score of 271 per game.

4 tries have been scored by Danny Care in the Heineken Cup. The England scrum-half has also made an average gain of nine metres per carry.

152m have been gained on 40 carries by Raphael Lakafia, which makes the the Biarritz No8 the main dangerman for Quins.

The Amlin Opta Index compares player and team strengths and weaknesses across European Rugby using video analysis of every touch of the ball. Each action in the match is awarded a points value depending on its relative importance — for example, a try is worth more than a tackle.

Rugby fixtures

Heineken Cup, tonight

Biarritz v Harlequins (8)

Connacht v Zebre (8)

Tomorrow

Castres v Ulster (1.35)

Glasgow v N’hampton (1.35)

Cardiff Blues v Sale (3.40)

Montpellier v Toulon (3.40)

Exeter v Leinster (6)

Scarlets v Clermont (6)

Sunday

Munster v Racing (12.45)

Saracens v E’burgh (12.45)

Leicester v Toulouse (3)

Treviso v Ospreys (3)

Amlin Challenge Cup Tomorrow

L Irish v Bordeaux (3)

St Francais v L Welsh (8)

(London clubs only)

Brought to you by Amlin, proud sponsors of European rugby, in their fourth season as Title Partner of the Amlin Challenge Cup and Premium Partner of the Heineken Cup.